Revenge of the Sith: "The Elevator Scene” by John Williams (Score Reduction and Analysis)

[@PromixDelPiero]

0:00 "Bruh" (Anakin Skywalker, 19 BBY)

[@zoltan902]

Love it! With the 'The Elevator Scene', I can just imagine how another composer could have left it with repetitive single note string ostinato cliché, but Maestro Williams even makes a melodic motif out of it. I also notice his affinity with brass harmony. The Rebel Fanfare gets a few quotes in there, and the major triad harmony is spread across the brass not only to create harmonically pleasing sounds, but one that actually sounds distinctly, and unmistakably Star Wars.

[@gazelleman08]

Always loved this cue from the OST and was super bummed it was cut from the film. Great to see it appreciated here!

[@pabond008]

This is fantastic! Adding the music back over the elevator sequence adds a great deal of tension, as you point out, and makes it 10x better than the final, scoreless version in which the gags and one-liners take precedence (to the detriment of the whole sequence, I would argue). Another great analysis, Dave!

[@pete7615]

At 1:30, the tension is released and the music transitions into a new style. I’ve always loved the trumpets blaring at this part.

[@sajrocks]

such an excellent showcase of williams's action writing genius. THANK YOU for the reduction/analysis.

[@matiasgodoy399]

Dave, really, I mean... This is the best study YT channel ever!!! If you can, LOTR, Harry Potter, anything Elfman´s. Dude you rule

[@TheStupidityBuster]

John Williams "I havent copied stravinsky enough, lets try rite of spring in space" holy shit from string ostinato to brass riffs. genius thievery

[@johng8784]

4:45 is the theme to the space battle of Couruscant in the original Battlefront 2 game.

[@user-bs8fb7ic8z]

yesssssss you're right

[@eb.1]

Yes! Thank you so much for this. Would love to see more prequel action music!

[@JediMaestr0]

I’ve just noticed that the ostinato is most likely derived from Grievous’ theme, as it primarily uses the first four notes of the minor scale in a downward pattern!

[@michaelladarkangelsparkle9908]

BRAVO!!!! YOU ARE DOING SUCH FANTASTIC WORK I HOPE YOU GET A MILLION SUBS! (ALSO I've wanted to see the sheet music to "Droid Invasion and appearance of Darth Maul" from ep1 LOVE STAR WARS!

[@yadinmichaeli12]

Man this is amazing thank you!!

[@LeandroGardini]

Amazing work David. Keep it up!!!

[@lovesagger]

Enjoyed this very much. Thank you.

[@bright8482]

Thanks for doing this!

[@ComposerConductor]

David, for the new cue from the Elevator Scene, what does 8 raised 6 mean? Thank you!

[@sebastianminnes2575]

Excellent Work Dave! Would love to see you tackle 5m4 (The Quidditch Match) from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone!

[@ShengYuanMusic]

YES!!

[@spencerstewart8604]

where do you get the original scores from? been looking everywhere!

[@oscarjenkins-wing304]

Can't believe you didn't talk about the Rite of Spring!

[@elliottsorenson9290]

Where do you get the recordings of the music not in the soundtrack?

[@TB1M1]

All jazz chords. Like JW suspense layering here !

[@ctsr1117]

2:29 I just found a mistake. So, the mistake was the crescendo at the snare part was overlapping the top of the footage at the front.

[@MrSoccerboy429]

Going to tell my kids this was stravinsky :D

[@WolfikCZ]

Amazing job! But i wonder where do you have those scores from. Its locked in archives.

[@sebastianminnes2575]

Petr Machane You can find them on Swappano, I’ve got a bunch, but you have to trade for them

[@jakegearhart]

_Quartal triad?_ That's like saying a four sided triangle! I think you mean _tetrad._ :P

[@DavidMcCaulley]

Whoops! Yet another thing I can add to my list of typos...

[@malusofficial]

But isn't he still correct though? A tetrad had four notes in it, like a seventh chord, but the trumpet 'stabs' he indicates as "quartal triads" only have three notes, just stacked with quartal intervals, but nevertheless three notes, so am I missing something here?

[@dgmullin1]

1:50 Holst much?

[@ethanshortell3902]

Major inspiration

[@bovineking8927]

Because rhythmically riffing on a single note automatically means it's copying Mars.

[@TheLibrarianUU]

Ook!

[@icebearisicebear]

DO NOT WANT!!!